According to the prior art, in order to collect the pollen from bees, the beehive has a collector at the entrance is in the form of one or two sheets of the screen plate forming a series of round or square shapes through which the bee enters. When the bee enters into the beehive through such an entrance, the pollen attached to the legs of the bee falls from the legs on the outer circumference of the entrance. However, when the bee passes through the entrance, the head and the front legs pass through first and the abdomen and the rear legs thereafter pass, sometimes causing a rubbing of the wings. Thus, when the bee passes through the entrance, it takes time and the wings or abdomen of the bee may be wounded or injured by the surrounding portion of the entrance. The latter effect may cause problems that the injured bee may not work hard and/or collect less pollen or may shorten its life, thereby reducing the amount of pollen collected in the end.
According to the present invention, an improvement is provided for the entrance to the beehive which makes use of the bee's habit for the entrance and includes a series of specifically shaped entrances through which the bee passes swiftly and safely. The entrances of the present invention make is possible for the bee to pass swiftly through without receiving any wound or injury around the wings, abdomen and legs and the pollen attached around the legs of the bee is efficiently removed so that good collection of the pollen is achieved.
In accordance with the invention, this is accomplished by providing an entranceway for the beehive shaped with a narrow portion through which the legs of the bee can pass and a wider upper portion through which the body and wings of the bee can safely pass. The pollen is removed from the legs of the bee by the narrow part of the entranceway.